Amazon Preservation and Emergency Requests: Police Guide and Template

Amazon publishes less about preservation than some platforms, but it does publish a clear emergency route. This guide covers both for Amazon.com, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Ring, using only what Amazon’s Law Enforcement Guidelines, the Amazon Law Enforcement Request Tracker (ALERT) pages, Amazon’s emergency request form and Ring’s own guidelines say. Where a page is silent, this guide says so. For what each service holds and which legal process unlocks it, see our general Amazon, AWS and Ring guide for police.

Scope: US and non-US agencies

Amazon’s guidelines are written for law enforcement seeking information from “Amazon.com and Amazon Web Services.” The ALERT sign-in page is at ler.amazon.com/us. The published pages say different things about non-US agencies, and this guide reports each as written:

• Amazon’s guidelines (and Ring’s guidelines, in the same words) say a non-US law enforcement agency must work through the legal and diplomatic channels in its jurisdiction, including MLATs or letters rogatory, and that such requests may be made to the US Department of Justice Office of International Affairs.
• The ALERT registration page and the ALERT online emergency form both list six agency countries: United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Mexico and Brazil.
• Ring’s guidelines also say all EU and UK law enforcement must submit through the Amazon Law Enforcement Tracker EU.

Amazon’s pages do not explain how these statements relate to one another.

Preservation requests

Amazon’s guidelines contain one sentence on this: on receipt of “a lawful and binding request” Amazon will preserve requested information “for up to 90 days.” The document does not describe a preservation form or channel, the identifiers Amazon needs, whether an extension is available for Amazon.com or AWS data, or whether the customer is notified of a preservation. What Amazon does publish: it does not accept service of subpoenas, search warrants or other legal process except through ALERT, and the ALERT FAQ describes ALERT as the tool for sending information requests to Amazon, AWS, Ring, Twitch, Wickr and Blink. The ALERT request menu sits behind sign-in, which we did not access, so we could not confirm whether it offers a preservation request type; check once you are signed in.

Ring is more specific, for Ring data only. Ring’s own guidelines (not Amazon’s) say Ring will preserve requested information for up to 90 days on a lawful and binding request, and for an additional 90 days (up to 180 in total) if it receives a preservation extension. They add that the preservation process may be rejected if the data is not clearly specified or the details needed to locate it are not provided. Ring says the fastest and most reliable way to identify the right account and device is the device MAC ID, found in the Ring app (menu, Device Settings, Device Health, Device Details), on the back of a doorbell, near the power cord or mounting connection on a camera, or on the box. Without a MAC ID, Ring may be able to search by name, address, telephone number or email, which may take longer.

What may not exist to preserve. Ring says it can access a Ring device video only if the video is not protected by Throw Away the Key Encryption (TAKE) or End-to-End Encryption, and the user had a current Ring subscription (including a free trial) at the time of the event. Retention follows the period the customer set. For Ring footage, send the preservation request early.

Statute. Federal law on preservation is 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f): on a governmental entity’s request, a provider “shall take all necessary steps to preserve records and other evidence in its possession pending the issuance of a court order or other process,” retained for 90 days and extended for an additional 90-day period on a renewed request. Amazon’s guidelines do not cite this section and state only the 90-day figure for Amazon.com and AWS. Neither section 2703 nor section 2702 has been amended since the 2024 edition of the US Code cited below (checked against the Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s amendment tables through Public Law 119-134).

Create your account first. Ring says it can take at least two business days to authenticate professional credentials before ALERT can be used, and the ALERT FAQ says account requests are reviewed Monday to Friday in business hours. Register before you need it.

Emergency requests

Amazon’s guidelines say emergencies must be submitted through ALERT by selecting the emergency request button, and that during the emergency ALERT will grant law enforcement temporary account access. Amazon’s pages word the emergency threshold differently, and this guide reports each as written:

• Amazon’s guidelines: Amazon “reserves the right to respond immediately to urgent law enforcement requests” in cases involving “a threat to public safety or risk of harm to any person.”
• The ALERT online emergency form, the ALERT FAQ and the PDF emergency form: for law enforcement use only, and only when there is an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requiring disclosure of information without delay.
• Ring’s guidelines: Ring reserves the right to respond immediately to urgent requests in cases involving imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to any person.

Amazon does not explain the difference. As a matter of record, the online form asks the officer to acknowledge that the request meets the form’s stated condition before submitting.

No account needed to start. The FAQ says to select the red “Send Emergency Request” button (on the ALERT sign-in page the link currently reads “Submit Emergency Request”); once the emergency is resolved you can return to complete registration. If you already have an account, the FAQ says to sign in and submit the emergency request from your dashboard. The online form asks for the agency (name, address, phone, country), the company (AWS, Amazon, Blink, Ring, Twitch or Wickr), the requesting officer, the supervisor’s contact details, and five written answers of up to 1,000 characters each: the nature of the claimed emergency; who is in imminent danger of death or serious physical injury; why there is insufficient time to obtain and serve a valid and binding legal demand; the specific information believed to be in Amazon’s possession and how it relates to the emergency; and how it will help avert the emergency. It also takes an electronic signature and a short human-verification step. Enter “N/A” for anything unavailable, because incomplete answers can delay processing.

If your country is not in the form’s drop-down, Amazon points to a PDF Emergency Law Enforcement Information Request Form that is to be emailed to [email protected] with “EMERGENCY REQUEST” in the subject line.

Statute. The federal provisions are 18 U.S.C. § 2702(b)(8) (contents) and § 2702(c)(4) (records): a provider may, in good faith, disclose to a governmental entity if it believes an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay of the communications (b)(8) or information (c)(4) relating to the emergency. The statute permits disclosure; it does not compel it.

Notice. Ring’s guidelines say Ring notifies the account owner after disclosing video in response to an emergency request, except where it is prohibited from doing so or believes notice could result in danger or be counterproductive, such as imminent threats to life, child exploitation or terrorism. The Amazon guidelines do not state an equivalent rule for Amazon.com or AWS emergencies.

Templates

Adapt to your agency’s format; not legal advice. Amazon publishes no preservation form or template and no list of required identifiers, so the first block is a plain letter. We could not see ALERT’s request menu (it sits behind sign-in), so match the letter to whatever request type and fields ALERT shows you.

Preservation request

[AGENCY LETTERHEAD]
Date: [DATE]
To: Amazon [SUBMISSION ROUTE AS SHOWN IN ALERT]
Subject: Preservation request, [SERVICE: Amazon.com / AWS / Ring]

[AGENCY NAME] requests that Amazon preserve the information described below pending issuance of legal process, under 18 U.S.C. 2703(f) [or other legal basis: CITE].

Service: [Amazon.com / AWS / Ring]
Identifier(s) you hold for the account: [IDENTIFIERS; Amazon publishes no list of accepted identifiers]
Ring only (Ring guidelines): device MAC ID [MAC ID]; if no MAC ID, owner name/address/phone/email [DETAILS]
Information to preserve: [E.g., subscriber information, order or billing records, service usage logs, stored files, device video: LIST EACH CATEGORY]
Date range: [START DATE] to [END DATE]
Ring only, extension (Ring guidelines; Amazon publishes no extension for Amazon.com or AWS): this extends the preservation made on [DATE], reference [ALERT REFERENCE]

Investigating officer: [NAME, TITLE, BADGE/ID]
Official email / phone: [EMAIL] / [PHONE]
Agency case number: [CASE NUMBER]
[SIGNATURE]

Emergency request (answers for the ALERT form; each field is limited to 1,000 characters)

Company: [AWS / Amazon / Blink / Ring / Twitch / Wickr]
Nature of the claimed emergency: [WHAT IS HAPPENING AND HOW YOU KNOW]
Who is in imminent danger of death or serious physical injury: [PERSON OR GROUP, AS KNOWN]
Why there is insufficient time to obtain legal process: [REASON, WITH TIMES]
Specific information sought and how it relates: [NARROW LIST: E.g., account email and recent IP logs for ACCOUNT IDENTIFIER, DATE RANGE] ; [HOW IT CONNECTS TO THE EMERGENCY]
How the information will assist in averting the emergency: [E.g., allows location of the person at risk]
Officer: [NAME, TITLE/BADGE] ; [OFFICIAL EMAIL] ; [OFFICE AND MOBILE PHONE]
Supervisor: [NAME, TITLE/BADGE] ; [OFFICIAL EMAIL] ; [OFFICE AND MOBILE PHONE]
Follow-up legal process, if any: [WILL FOLLOW / REFERENCE]

Common mistakes

• Serving process by another route. Amazon says it does not accept service of legal process except through ALERT. The same applies to Ring.
• Overbroad requests. Amazon says it objects to overbroad demands as a matter of course, the ALERT emergency form says over-broad or not narrowly tailored requests could cause delays, and Ring gives the example of a subpoena for a list of all Ring device locations in a city. Ring rejects requests that lack the information needed to locate records.
• Skipping the MAC ID. Ring says it is the fastest and most reliable identifier; other identifiers can take longer.
• Using the emergency button for ordinary cases. The FAQ says non-emergency requests go through the normal process.
• Waiting to register. Amazon says legal process must be served by uploading it through ALERT, which needs an account, and Ring says credential checks can take at least two business days. Register before you need it. The emergency form, by contrast, can be started without an account.

Related

• Amazon, AWS and Ring law enforcement data request: general police guide
• Overview of platform law enforcement request guides
• Investigator handbook: United States

Sources

Checked on 24 October 2026. Guidance changes; confirm on the current pages before relying on it.

• Amazon Law Enforcement Guidelines (PDF)
• Amazon: Law Enforcement Information Requests
• Amazon Law Enforcement Request Tracker (US)
• ALERT: Emergency Request Instructions
• ALERT: account registration
• ALERT frequently asked questions (PDF)
• Amazon Emergency Law Enforcement Information Request Form (PDF)
• Ring: Law Enforcement Guidelines
• 18 U.S.C. § 2703 (US Code, 2024 edition, govinfo)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2702 (US Code, 2024 edition, govinfo)

These routes are for authorised law enforcement only. If you are a victim or a member of the public, report to the police instead. Browse our police data-request directory for other platforms, or use the country-by-country cybercrime help hub to find where to report.